MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen has stepped down after seven years, and Allie Prescott has been named his replacement on an interim basis.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The University of Memphis says it wants to begin operating an independent student apartment complex to improve its aging housing supply.

The university said its Board of Trustees approved a request Tuesday for the school to move forward with the process of managing and eventually acquiring the Gather on Southern apartments.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The University of Memphis is announcing a research agreement with the Czech Academy of Sciences.

A signing ceremony is scheduled Thursday at the Tennessee university with representatives of the academy. Memphis says the agreement will allow research faculty and students from both entities to work together in areas of mutual interest, with the goal of developing meaningful, grant-funded projects.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A report says the homicide rates in Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, have decreased now compared to a year ago.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean are slated to face off in three Tennessee governor's race debates in October.

According to a Lee campaign news release, the debates will be Oct. 2 at the University of Memphis; Oct. 9 at the Eastman Employee Center in Kingsport; and Oct. 12 at a location in Nashville to be determined.

Dean's campaign wanted to go head-to-head in more than just the three debates.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A public Tennessee university will become the first higher education institution to accept a scholarship for family of active-duty service members killed or severely injured as full payment.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Officials say the University of Memphis is going to give students a break and freeze tuition for the 2018-19 academic year.

U of M school officials say theirs will likely be the only university in Tennessee, public or private, to not increase tuition this year.

In a press statement, University President M. David Rudd said the school has seen improved student performance in terms of both retention and graduation and some of those gains should be given back to students.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Fans of the Memphis football team have been invited to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to watch the Tigers take on UCF in the American Athletic Conference championship game in Orlando.

The University of Memphis Alumni Association says the game will be shown on a big screen at the stadium on Saturday. Fans are being asked to bring lawn chairs and blankets for seating on the stadium's playing surface.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's National Civil Rights Museum and the University of Memphis are planning a two-day symposium about civil rights and economic equality on the 50th anniversary of the killing of Martin Luther King Jr., with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder scheduled as a keynote speaker.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — In the wake of two reported off-campus rapes involving students at the University of Memphis, students and alumni challenged and criticized the university's administration at a sexual assault forum.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Students at the University of Memphis are planning to protest for a third consecutive day after a student said she was raped twice off-campus within a 20-day span earlier this year.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — "The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue."

That quote — usually attributed to Dorothy Parker but more likely originated by Oscar Levant — might also apply to the Memphis-born, California-based actor, artist and writer Chris Ellis, but with this modification:

"The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue and pencil."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The University of Memphis has landed the largest research contract in the school's history.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The University of Memphis is announcing plans for a new veterans care center on campus.

In a news release Wednesday, the university said the outpatient Veterans Care Center will address the mental health needs of veterans, regardless of era, gender, discharge status or service connection.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Financial concerns are delaying the construction of a new recreation center at the University of Memphis.

University President David Rudd said in an email to the community Sunday that an increase in student fees to pay for the new rec center didn't generate as much revenue as expected, and that the project will be delayed 18 months.

Costs for the project grew to $60 million, while student fees generated $15 million.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has named former University of Memphis interim president Brad Martin and Democratic fundraiser Bill Freeman to newly independent university boards.